using assessments to improve transitions to...
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Using Assessments to Improve
Transitions to Kindergarten The webinar will begin at 12:00 p.m. PST / 3:00 p.m. EST
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REL Northwest
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Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO)
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Using Assessments to Improve
Transitions to Kindergarten November 19, 2014
Today’s Moderators
Dr. Fiona Helsel REL Northwest
Jana Martella Center on Enhancing Early Learning Opportunities
REL Northwest Region
Who We Are
Webinar Goals
• To increase participants’ knowledge of how to integrate KEAs
into a comprehensive assessment system
• To increase participants’ awareness of the potential to use
KEA data to inform teaching practices
• To increase participants’ awareness of how two states are
designing their KEAs as part of a comprehensive B–3
assessment system
Today’s Presenters
Dr. Jacqueline Jones
Mr. John Pruette Ms. Anna Severens
Dr. Thomas Schultz
Keynote Presentation
Dr. Jacqueline Jones
President and Chief Executive Officer
Foundation for Child Development
Topics
• Assessment in high-quality programs
• Comprehensive Assessment Systems
• Purpose/Consequence
Two Important Sources
• American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
• Snow, C. E., & Van Hemel, S. B. (Eds.). (2008). Early childhood assessment: Why, what, and how. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Assessment
… a systematic process to measure or evaluate the
characteristics or performance of individuals, programs, or
other entities, for purposes of drawing inferences…
The Standards (2014)
Assessment
• Does not live in isolation
• Is part of a complex and interconnected high-quality
early learning system
• Reflects standards and curriculum
• Should not drive the curriculum
High-Quality Coordinated
Early Learning System
Early Learning Standards
Comprehensive Assessment
Systems
Program Standards
Data Health
Promotion
Family and Community Engagement
Workforce Development
Comprehensive Assessment
Systems
Assessment System
…a coordinated and comprehensive system of
multiple assessments – each of which is valid and
reliable for its specified purpose and for the population
with which it will be used– that organizes information
about the process and context of young children's
learning and development in order to help Early
Childhood Educators make informed instructional and
programmatic decisions
Some Components
• Screening Measures
• Formative Assessments
• Summative Assessments
• Measures of Environmental Quality
• Measures of the Quality of Adult-Child Interactions
(adapted from RTT/ELC)
Assessment Purpose
(P-2) which assessments to use
how often to administer them
how long they should be,
how the domain of items or children or programs
should be sampled
—should match the stated purpose and require the
minimum amount of time to obtain valid results for that
purpose.
KEA Purposes
A Policy Question:
How are children doing as they enter kindergarten
across the state?
A Practice Question:
How should instruction be modified to meet Kathy’s
needs?
(P-3) …Although the same measure may be used for
more than one purpose, prior consideration of all
potential purposes is essential, as is careful analysis of
the actual content of the assessment instrument.
INSTRUMENT SELECTION
AND
IMPLEMENTATION
(I-2) Assessments should not be given without
clear plans for follow-up steps that use the
information productively and appropriately.
(I-7) Assessors should be trained to meet a clearly
specified level of expertise in administering
assessments, should be monitored systematically,
and should be reevaluated occasionally.
(I-11) Extreme caution needs to be exercised in
reaching conclusions about the status and progress of,
as well as the effectiveness of programs serving,
young children with special needs, children from
language-minority homes, and other children from
groups not well represented in norming or validation
samples, until more information about assessment use
is available and better measures are developed.
(S-5) Performance (classroom-based) assessments
of children can be used for accountability, if
objectivity is ensured by checking a sample of the
assessments for reliability and consistency, if the
results are appropriately contextualized in
information about the program, and if careful
safeguards are in place to prevent misuse of
information.
Questions?
State Presentation–North Carolina
Mr. John Pruette
Executive Director
Office of Early Learning
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Assessments
Transitions to
Kindergarten
Kindergarten Entry
Assessment (KEA)
Transitions to
Kindergarten
Basics 15%
Meals/ Snacks
9%
Whole Group 24%
Choice 37%
Station 5%
Small Group 2%
Individual 8%
Activity Setting - Pre K
Typical experiences for children as they move between PreK and Kindergarten
Source: Sharon Ritchie, Director, FirstSchool Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, UNC – Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Basics 19%
Meals/ Snacks
5%
Whole Group 45%
Choice 6%
Station 2%
Small Group 0%
Individual 23%
Activity Setting - K
Source: Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, Measuring and Improving Teacher-Student Interactions in PK-12 Settings to Enhance Students’ Learning (Charlottesville, Virginia: Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, 2011).
NC’s Assessment Design Process
NC K-3 Assessment Design Process
• Proposes claims for essentials in five domains
• Promotes the use of a formative assessment process
• Provides recommendations for development and implementation
NC’s Assessment Design Process
Claim Construct Construct
Progression Performance Descriptors
Assessment Means
Early Learning Standards, Common Core, and NC Essential Standards
Lay out increasingly more sophisticated understandings of core concepts, principles or skill development in a domain.
Provide a picture of what it means to “improve” in an area of learning.
Learning
Progressions
Describe development over an extended period of time.
Standards, Curriculum Scope and Sequence, and Learning Progressions
Construct
Progressions
NC’s Assessment Design Process
Claim Construct Construct
Progression Performance Descriptors
Assessment Means
Early Learning Standards, Common Core, and NC Essential Standards
Construct Progressions
Identify the major concepts within a
particular construct
Identify the competencies within
each “understanding”,
ranging from simple to higher levels
Paint a picture of performance, specifying exactly how students would demonstrate their
understanding or skill at each stage of the progression
NC’s Assessment Design Process
Claim Construct Construct
Progression Performance Descriptors
Assessment Means
Early Learning Standards, Common Core, and NC Essential Standards
NC K-3 Assessment Means
• Multiple Means to Elicit Evidence of Learning
• Ongoing Observation
• Teacher Assessment
• Situations
• Tasks
• Family Contributions
• Self-Assessment
• Peer Assessment
Draft NC K-3 Formative Assessment
Constructs
Domain K-3 Constructs
Approaches to Learning Self-Selected Activities Perseverance: Assigned Activities Perseverance: Collaborative Activities
Cognitive Development Counting Problem-Solving
Emotional-Social Development Emotional Literacy Emotion Regulation
Health & Physical Development Fine Motor Development; Midline Gross Motor Development
Language Development & Communication
Following Directions Letter Naming Book & Print Awareness Vocabulary Writing
Improved Instructional Practices
Effective Professional
Development
Resources
Transitions to Kindergarten
Questions?
State Presentation–Nevada
Ms. Anna Severens
Early Childhood Education Programs Professional
Nevada State PreK Director
Office of Early Learning & Development
Nevada Department of Education
Nevada Key Activities
• 2009: Governor established Nevada Early Childhood Advisory Council (NECAC)
• 2010: NECAC began strategic planning with school readiness minigrant
• 2011: NECAC priority included Statewide Coordinated KEA Tool; vetoed by the Governor
• February 2012: NECAC convened School Readiness Summit to define school readiness
• June 2012: NECAC adopted school readiness definition
• January-July 2012: NECAC commissioned statewide KEA Needs Assessment through ARRA funds
• September 2012: NECAC recommended piloting Teaching Strategies GOLD as Nevada’s KEA tool
Nevada Key Activities (continued)
• June 2013: Legislature appropriated $1.5M for 2-year pilot for assessment of school readiness (SB486)
• Fall 2013: Silver State KIDS emerged from 2nd RttT-ELC application
• October 2013: Restructuring of state early childhood leadership structure moved key programs, including Head Start State Collaboration Office into NDE
• Fall-Spring 2014: Pilot implementation of Silver State KIDS including feedback from teachers
– Phase I (2013-14)- 7 districts; 13,000 PreK; 900 K
– Phase II (2014-15)- 11,000 PreK and 1,293 K
Needs Assessment
• Large, inclusive, statewide needs assessment process used multiple methodologies to collect data. Site visits were made in all 17 counties; focus groups were held; surveys were completed by 200 providers and stakeholders and more than 500 parents; and interviews were completed with 30 key informants.
• Findings indicated that a tool was needed to cover multiple domains of child development and learning, birth-3rd grade that were sustainable for the long term. Educators asked for more data sharing and partnerships between early childhood and schools. Parents wanted more information about what was expected in kindergarten.
Major Accomplishments
From 2011-2013:
1) The NECAC led a successful effort to develop and pilot a comprehensive KEA initiative, including convening a School Readiness Summit
2) Adopted SR Definition
3) Completed a statewide KEA Needs Assessment
4) Analyzed existing assessment tools
5) Made recommendation to pilot TSG
6) Conducted a statewide planning summit for implementation
7) Secured $1.5M from state legislature to pilot assessment
Challenges & Opportunities
• Limited state staff to oversee and manage the pilot effort. Existing staff had to take on additional responsibilities.
• Uncertainty about NV’s role in KEA-EAG consortium because of NV’s earlier commitment to the TSG pilot and changing leadership.
• KIDS is perceived as an early childhood initiative, and K-12 leaders are not well represented on NECAC. Hopefully, move to NDE and Governor’s appointment of an early childhood liaison on the P-20W Council will increase visibility at the K-2 level.
• State-level leadership transitions. • Ongoing need for support and infrastructure for PD on
implementation of observation-based assessment, and using data to improve instruction and connecting assessment with other state and local data systems and reports, including report cards.
• Need for common definitions across early childhood and primary grades, such as DAP, rigor, and centers.
Lessons Learned • Infrastructure & Professional Development: As new
projects are taken on, such as piloting an assessment instrument, it is necessary to build in additional staffing and infrastructure to manage and provide PD.
• Leadership Transition: When leaders are in transition, it is important to have adequate documentation of efforts and outcomes.; More involvement of K-3 leadership
• Technology: IT teams need to be included early on in discussions about how to integrate early childhood data in the longitudinal data systems of the state.
• Collaboration: Nevada leaders noted the benefits of working with other states through the Kellogg KEA Project, TSG Professional Learning Community, and the MD/OH EAG Consortium.
Next Steps
• Evaluating TSG pilot
• Decision to continue in MD/OH Consortium
• Enhance infrastructure and professional development related to KEA
• Identify common tool that measures all domains for statewide implementation
Questions?
Discussant
Dr. Thomas Schultz
Senior Scientist, CEELO
Director of Early Childhood Initiatives, CCSSO
Beyond NC & NV:
State KEA Initiatives
● Snapshot of KEA Initiatives
● Signs of Progress
● Challenges & Questions
52
● 14 states have passed KEA legislation since 2010
● 20 RTT/Early Learning Challenge states are developing KEA efforts
● 17 states have joined 3 Enhanced Assessment Grant projects to develop new KEA tools
State KEAs Are on the Move
53
● Aligning KEAs to state standards
● Training teachers/establishing reliability on comprehensive observational KEAs
● Training administrators and engaging parents
● Teacher surveys & focus groups
● First-ever state-led ECE assessment development projects
● Many teachers like comprehensive KEA scope
KEA Signs of Progress
54
● #1 teacher concern is KEAs take too much time.
● Many teachers also administer grade-level reading, teacher evaluation, & local assessments
● Many teachers lack experience with comprehensive observational tools
● Many teachers haven’t been trained/don’t have time to study and use KEA data
● Using KEA data to “individualize instruction” is not simple/easy
KEA Challenges: Assessment Overload
55
● KEA policies assume multiple audiences and uses:
– Report to state policy makers on all children
– Report to teachers to inform curricula and teaching
– Report back to early childhood programs
– Report to parents
● KEAs are 1 element of comprehensive assessment system, but being rolled out separately
● How do we avoid overloading KEAs with too many expectations - but avoid overloading teachers with too many separate assessments?
Challenges: Overloaded Expectations?
56
Questions & Answers
Dr. Jacqueline Jones
Mr. John Pruette Ms. Anna Severens
Dr. Thomas Schultz
Thank you for joining us!
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